The article by Esquire writer John Richardson contends that the following assertion by Morano in the December 12, 2009 TV debate with Professor Mark Maslin, is incorrect:

Esquire Magazine’s Spin: “Morano says, sea levels are not rising. To prove it [Morano] quotes a study by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute that actually says sea levels rose nearly eight inches in the last century. This obvious mistake leads Maslin into his fatal error, which is patronizing Marc Morano…Despite his own howler about the sea levels, he hammers away.”

Reality Check: Morano’s citation about sea level was that it was “not showing the acceleration.” Morano never said it was not rising. (Note: Sea level has been rising since the end of the last ice age.) Esquire’s Richardson simply made a mistake in trying to claim Morano said sea level was “not rising.”

‘No evidence for accelerated sea-level rise’ says Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute – December 12, 2008Excerpt: In an op-ed piece in the December 11 issue of NRC/Handelsblad, Wilco Hazeleger, a senior scientist in the global climate research group at KNMI, writes: “In the past century the sea level has risen twenty centimeters. There is no evidence for accelerated sea-level rise. It is my opinion that there is no need for drastic measures. It is wise to adopt a flexible, step-by-step adaptation strategy. By all means, let us not respond precipitously.”